Matthew James Everingham (1769-1817)
|long_name=Matthew James Everingham |birth_year=1769 |birth_locality=Yarmouth, Isle of Wight |birth_county=Isle of Wight |birth_nation-subdiv1=England |birth_nation=United Kingdom |death_year=1817 |death_month=12 |death_day=25 |death_locality=Hawkesbury, New South Wales |death_nation-subdiv1=New South Wales |death_nation=Australia |ifmarried-g1=true |wedding1_year=1791 |wedding1_month=3 |wedding1_day=13 |wedding1_street=St Johns |wedding1_locality=Parramatta, New South Wales |wedding1_nation-subdiv1=New South Wales |wedding1_nation=Australia |remains_year=1817 |remains_month=12 |remains_day=27 |remains_locality=Wilberforce, New South Wales |remains_nation-subdiv1=New South Wales |remains_nation=Australia |globals= }} Early Life In July 1784 Matthew Everingham was sentenced to transportation to Australia as a convict for stealing two books. He arrived with the First Fleet on , on the Scarborough. Career In 1795, Matthew Everingham became one of the first Europeans to set foot on Mt. Wilson in the Blue Mountains, along with William Reid and John Ramsey. He wrote: :Southward is a level champagne to the westward of the country is rocky and barren without a single tree standing for many miles, but had a most picturesque and romantic view, the sun shining on the rocks. They appeared to the beholder like towns and castles in ruins - I wish'd much to go over and explore that barren track of land but our provisions grew very short and were obliged to bend our thoughts towards home. Windsor and Richmond Gazette, Friday 29 November 1929, by George G Reeve To attempt to, in ever so small a degree, set out in a bare outline the pioneering achievements or ramification of details in Australia of the work of the Everinghams is of itself a herculean task and one that is of more than ordinary interest, judging by the more than academic interest created by the much-talked-of alleged Everingham Millions. Yet, the second, third and fourth generations of the first branch of male descent from the pioneer, who came by the Scarborough (1788) and who married Miss Eli zabeth Rhymes at Parramatta on March 13, 1791, when he was about 22 years of age, are really the heirs at law under the old English law. All the Everinghams have rendered pioneering service to the State, and all with whom I have come in contact are strong men physically, and splendid type of Australians. Matthew, the second, and Matthew the third, were big men— the very fact that each of them lived to a great age clarifies this statement. The Everinghams, as pioneers, are to be found all over this vast Continent, and it has been stated that all bearing the historic name are descended from the pioneer and his wife (nee Rhymes). 'The writer is quite prepared to believe this, for the reason that it would be too difficult a. task to look for the proof ' of otherwise. Mr. Charles Bertie, of Sydney, once wrote that the real founders of Australia were the folks who came by the First Fleet, and some versifiers, notably Mr,. Randolph Bedford; M.L.A., of Queensland, has also sung their praises in this rare verses, 'The Ship's 'of Shame.' Only one copy of this famous work is known to exist, and it is insured for £50. The book is at present in a safe at the Assurance Deposit Company's office in Brisbane. The writer, however, is acquainted with the tribute verses 'Ships of Shame’ through reading them when the set originally appeared in Bedford's 'Clarion,' published in Melbourne about the year 1894. __SHOWFACTBOX__ Category:Ancestry from England Category:Migrants from England to New South Wales Everingham, Matthew James Category:Convicts transported to New South Wales Category:First Fleeters Category:Convicts transported to Australia on the First Fleet‎